Valen
Valen, a Minbari not born of Minbari was the most significant figure in Minbari history. Appearing mysteriously in the midst the First Shadow War, aboard a powerful new battle station, he is credited with uniting the fractured Minbari Castes and leading them to victory against the Shadows. History A Minbari Not Born of Minbari Jeffrey Sinclair arrived with Babylon 4 from the time rift, emerges from his chrysalis as a half-Minbari and sends out a signal. The Vorlons arrive first, followed shortly by a Minbari refugee fleet. The fleet had been on the run ever since the death of their leaders and the destruction of their greatest starbase; the center for their war efforts.War Without End, Part I Their ships damaged, scattered and cut off, unable to find a safe port as all other races had been turned against them and unwilling to return to Minbar for fear of leading the Shadows back to their homeworld. They had almost given up hope when, with a blinding flash, an answer to their prayers arrived. A boarding party is sent and they are met by Zathras who takes them to Sinclair. Flanked by two Vorlons, he introduces himself as Valen and says they have much work ahead of them.War Without End, Part IIJMS post on AOL - 5/29/1996 9:07:00 PMJMS post on CIS - 9/2/1996 12:51:00 PMIn Valen's Name Seeing Valen and his station as an answer to their prayers, the Minbari quickly rally around him and adopt the station as their new base. The Minbari were curious where Valen had come from, but were unable to trace his lineage back in any Minbari line and did not press the issue with him, hence he would often be said to be "A Minbari not born of Minbari." Valen first attempts to unite the Minbari Castes, but they begin to quarrel amongst themselves again, refusing to bend. Valen turns his back on them and creates the Anla'Shok: a new army that recognises no caste lines and operates outside of the uncooperative castes and they in turn call him "Entil'Zha." Valen constructs their base and training compound in the foothills of the northern mountain range on a wide plateau that overlooked the city of Tuzanor. It was said that Valen wanted the Rangers to train for battle where they would also be able to see the sacred city, over the objections of some elements in the warrior caste who protested that good soldiers couldn't be created in a place of peace. Shamed by Valen's decisive actions, the Minbari elders allow him to re-organise them. He calls forth the nine, the first Grey Council consisting of three from each caste; worker, warrior and religious. Remaining outside the castes, he becomes the first Chosen One and leader of the council.To Dream in the City of Sorrows Driving Out The Darkness Seeking allies, Valen called many races to his cause, gathering them on Minbar where, just outside of the city of Tuzanor, at the peak of Mount H'Leya and accompanied by a pair of Vorlons, he gave what would become known as his holy "Times to come" speech. He prophesizes the defeat of the Shadows and that they will return in a thousand years; That the Anla'Shok will arise and be instrumental in that coming war against their ancient enemy, in which the Minbari would unite with the other half of their soul.Ceremonies of Light and Dark - Lennier recited Valen's prophecy RE: reuniting with the other half of their soulIn the Beginning - Dukhat and Lennon decribe Valen's prephecy RE: the return of the Shadows and the Rangers Among those to witness the event fist hand was the Tak'cha Ramde Zarwin who became one of Valen's very first non-Minbari followers. The Yolu decline to join Valen's cause, choosing to remain neutral. The Tak'cha take it upon themselves to punish them and launch a punitive assault on Pa'ri. When word reaches Valen of this atrocity he furiously expels the Tak'cha from the alliance and all Minbari records of their existence - save for those aboard the station - are expunged. Slowly the tide of battle turned in their favour and they eventually drive the Shadows out of all of their places and into hiding beneath Z'ha'dum where they enter into a form of hibernation. Valen's Legacy After the war, Valen recognizes a danger in allowing the Anla'shok to remain as such an effective fighting force without an enemy to fight, where the wrong person as their leader could turn a restless and dissatisfied group into an army for conquest and power. Rather than disband the Rangers, as he believed that without the unifying symbol of the Anla'shok, the Minbari military might once again become a collection of warring clan factions and because he knew the Shadows would return again some day, he re-tasked the Anla'shok with a new mission. They to be a fighting force no more. Instead they were to become sentries and watchers, collecting information quietly on Minbar from returning travellers and friendly sources on other worlds. Keeping alive the traditions of the Anla'shok while they kept watch for any sign that the Shadows had returned. In his absence their leader would be known by one of the same titles Valen himself carried -Anla'shok Na, or "Ranger One"- but would not be Entil'Zha. Valen eventually finds and marries Catherine Sakai, the two have several children. The marriage was a great scandal and his family were forced to flee Minbar from those that would persecute them.Atonement Before going to the sea and leaving Minbar for the last time, Valen left behind a series of sealed boxes containing letters addressed to himself and Delenn with orders that they be locked away in the Council's archives until a specific date, over nine hundred year hence. He also leaves behind the three Triluminaries, which he had received from Epsilon III and are kept as the Minbari's most holy relics.In the BeginningBabylon Squared Babylon 4 is taken in secret to a place of rest to become a monument. It's crew never returned and it's fate would remain a mystery for over nine hundred years. Before it leaves though, Valen leaves a final message in the hopes that one day Ivanova, Garibaldi or Delenn might find it and know that he had finally found "her". After living well over a hundred years, Valen's death would remain shrouded in mystery and his body never found.JMS post on CIS - 5/22/1996 7:21:00 PM The Minbari always speak of him having "travelled beyond." Back on Minbar, Tuzanor, where Valen had made his home continues to spoken of as Valen's favorite place on all of Minbar and the Anla'shok have the strongest support among the people of Tuzanor than anywhere else on the planet. His descendants eventually return to Minbar and have families of their own, carrying with them the human DNA of Valen and passing it on to the Minbari genome. After a thousand years and many generations, the number of Valen's descendants could not be counted. Delenn of Mir would one day be among them. References Category:Minbari Category:Males Category:Heads of State Category:Human/Minbari Hybrids Category:Rangers Category:True Seekers Category:Religious Figures Category:People